2017, a year of countering mainstreamed narratives

Last year’s global political scenario led FIAN International to raise important questions on the future of human rights and bring the root causes of right to food violations under the spotlight, as presented in its 2017 Annual Report.

In addition to supporting marginalized communities against social injustice and holding governments accountable, the organization continued to facilitating the engagement of civil society and social movements in global nutrition policy processes, such as the Committee on World Food Security. With mainstreamed narratives disregarding the main drivers of the ongoing food crisis, FIAN International also increased efforts in bringing the root causes of malnutrition under the spotlight and in enhancing mobilization among civil society.

Keeping abreast with the latest developments in the human rights sphere, the organization thoroughly followed a worrying and emerging trend: the financialization of land. With a global rush for land now the prevailing reality, the organization has been investigating the intricacies behind this complex phenomenon, where farmland is turning into a financial asset. “With it, a big movement of capitals and investments by states and companies in rural areas has accompanied increasingly violent expropriation of traditional populations from their land, leading to devastating environmental consequences and dire human rights violations,” says FIAN International’s Secretary General, Sofia Monsalve, discussing the highlights of the year. This trend can be best illustrated with current practices in the MATOPIBA region, Brazil, as echoed in the report.

Presenting a vision of the future, Monsalve points out that the organization will keep digging into the broader aspects of nutrition, as an inherent component of the right to food. Current trends are leading our children and adolescents to a path of obesity and non-communicable diseases, reaching epidemic proportions in regions like the Americas. “Right to food and nutrition violations are structural and manifest in many different ways. We are determined to keep working on all fronts,” she concludes in her message.